Trouble
by AriaMirror1028
Summary: The Volturi family is going through a terrible loss. Can Alec handle it or will he get in trouble trying to escape the pain? AU All human. Warnings: Contains drug use, character death, and parental spanking of a minor. Don't like, don't read.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights go to their respective owners.**

**Author's note: I am starting this off as a one-shot. I may right more depending on the response of the reviewers. I will point out that I do not read anonymous reviews. I just delete them. It's not anything against those of you who are nice when you review but I have found quite often anonymous reviewers feel too comfortable saying things that make me feel bad about my writing and that's not what the reviews on this site are supposed to do so please sign in if you are going to review.**

**Aro's POV**

It had been a month since the adoption. Alec seemed to be settling in quite well considering the reason he became an orphan to begin with. He still had nightmares about the fire that had killed his parents and twin sister. I think he missed Jane most of all. At least he was eating now. That was a good sign. The psychologist had told me it was time for him to rejoin the world by going back to school so I enrolled him in the public school in town and dismissed the home tutor I had hired for him. It was two days later that I got a call from the principal.

"Hello," I answered the phone when it rang.

"Hello, am I speaking to Aro Volturi," a man's voice spoke on the other end.

"Yes, and to whom am I speaking," I replied sensing this was important and setting my book aside.

"This is Principal James Tracker. I'm calling in regards to your son Alexander," the man said.

"Is he alright," I asked with growing concern.

"He and a couple of other students were found under the bleachers by the football field last period. They were smoking some marijuana. Unfortunately we have to put this on his record as it is very serious and we do not allow this sort of behavior on campus," the principal explained.

"I'm so sorry Principal Tracker. He normally doesn't do things like that. He's just been a bit out of sorts since his parents and sister died. I'll have a serious talk with him when he gets home," I promised.

"Well, we don't accept excuses here. Based on his physical reaction to the drug Nurse Cullen has concluded that this is his first time trying it. He's pretty sick right now. Would you like me to have someone drive him home," he offered.

"If it's not too much trouble," I said.

It was about five minutes later that there was a knock on the door. I answered and a redheaded woman came in helping Alec who looked very disoriented and was having a hard time even staying on his feet let alone moving anywhere.

"Hi . I'm Victoria Sutherland. I teach math at the school. Principal Tracker asked me to bring Alexander home since it's my free period right now. Do you need me to bring him to his room," she greeted me kindly.

I shook my head, "No thank you. I can take it from here."

She helped me put his arm over my shoulders so I could assist him, "Nurse Carlisle says you should let him rest for about three hours before confronting him. Don't give him any medicine for it. Chances are they'll only make him nauseous," she instructed.

I helped him get to bed and took his shoes off before tucking him in. He struggled to move into a comfortable position for a few minutes before falling asleep. I retrieved a book and settled into the chair he had in his room by his desk. He was still having nightmares about the fire and I didn't know how that would effect him with the drug in his system. His heart was already beating faster than it should be from smoking. It was only an hour later that he started whimpering and turning in his sleep. I set the book down and rushed to his side. It took a few minutes to wake him up but I preferred to be gentle rather than shaking him. I stroked his cheeks and hair and spoke to him, coaxing him to wake. When he finally did he looked at me in shock and confusion for a couple seconds then started crying.

"Shh, it's alright. It's just a dream. It's over now," I held him and tried to soothe him.

"There you are dear. What are you doing in…" Sulpicia entered the room and paused midsentence when she saw Alec, "What happened?"

"The school sent him home early. He got sick from smoking marijuana. I was letting him rest but he had a nightmare," I told her.

"Marijuana," she raised an eyebrow sternly.

"He's my nephew. I will deal with it. How about you help by making dinner," I suggested.

"Your nephew is now our son Aro. We should be raising him together," she argued.

"When he feels a little better he is going to need to eat. Now go make some dinner," I demanded.

"I don't think he deserves dinner today. My parents used to send my brother and I to bed without supper when we misbehaved so why should I treat my son any different," she crossed her arms defiantly.

"He was born to my side of the family, not yours. Therefore he will be punished the way my parents punished me and my parents never sent Didyme or myself to bed without feeding us. Now go make dinner," I gave her a look that told her that if she didn't do as I said she would learn how I planned to punish Alec by way of receiving it herself.

Alec who had settled down a little started sobbing anew when I said his mother's name and I began rocking him gently like I had when he was a child and was upset from hearing thunder while I was babysitting. My wife sighed angrily and left the room.

"It doesn't matter what you do to me. It can't be any more painful than losing them and I'll do anything to escape that hurt," he said.

"Is that what you think drugs are Alec? An escape from the pain of losing them," I asked.

He nodded, "I know it is. I felt it."

"I know what you mean," I said recalling the days of my youth. The first time in high school when Sulpicia told me she was pregnant I was ecstatic. I didn't care that we were only fifteen. When she miscarried we each mourned the loss of the baby in our own way. She became very quiet and barely talked to me or anyone else though she would seek my arms for comfort as often as she could and I resorted to drugs, "They make you feel strong like it doesn't bother you and for a while you just don't care what happened to make you hurt to begin with but in the end it only makes you hurt worse."

"That's not true," he sobbed, "I felt better."

I rubbed his back gently, "And how do you feel now?"

He shrugged, "I don't know," he said in that tone he used to use when he knew the real answer would only prove my point.

"You feel worse than you did before you tried smoking don't you," I more stated than asked but he knew I wanted him to answer.

He tensed up a little before giving in to the truth and nodding against my neck, "So how long am I grounded?"

I raised an eyebrow at this. I had forgotten that my brother-in-law, Marcus, had insisted when the twins reached double digits that they were too old to be punished the way my sister and I had always been and they had switched to grounding, "My family never grounded me and I have no intention of grounding you."

He pulled back and looked at me in confusion, "Then what are you going to do?"

The drug seemed to have worn off enough by now that he would remember if I taught him his lesson at this point. It would be better to get it over with before dinner so my wife would have no excuse to continue trying to talk me out of feeding him. I stood up and went over to the chair, repositioning it to face away from the desk. His eyes widened in fear when I began taking off my belt and he backed up as far as he could against the wall behind the bed. I sat down and doubled the belt.

"Come here Alec," I held a hand out to him and he shook his head, "Come here and get it over with."

He shook his head again, glanced at the open doorway and back at me. I gave him a strict look that was meant to tell him that running wouldn't help. Either he didn't notice or he didn't care because he still made a break for the door. I got up and wrapped my arm around his waist before he could escape. He struggled and screamed as I dragged him back to the chair and over my lap. I hated seeing him like this. The drug was heightening his fear and anxiety at the moment so this would be even harder on him than I meant for.

"No, I'm too old for this sort of punishment," he was trying to use the edge of the chair as leverage to get away but to no avail.

"Not in my house you aren't," I yanked his jeans down to expose his bare bottom.

He struggled even harder now, "No, please don't!"

I held him down with one hand and brought the belt down with the other, "This is for your own good Alec."

His crying became louder and he stopped struggling only because he couldn't calm down enough to gather the energy to try and get away from me. I continued his punishment and accidentally hit his hand with the belt when he reached back to cover his bottom. None too gently I pinned his wrist to his back before continuing. I continued until his bottom was red and covered with welts, not even pausing to wipe away the tears that had begun running down my face. I hated doing this to him. I had been in his position before, draped over my father's lap being beaten with a belt while the drugs were still present in my systems, heightening my senses and making the belt hurt that much more. When I did stop and start soothing his bottom with my hand his cries had become exhausted and was now just uncontrollable shaking coupled with uneven breathing.

"Is it over," he asked in a voice so raspy that I suspected he might have broken a vocal cord while screaming.

I helped him get up but he merely fell to his knees in front of me and stared at his lap, "Yes, it's over."

He looked up, surprised by the tears in my voice and when he saw that I really was crying his expression became pained with guilt, "I'm sorry Papa," he started sobbing again into his hands.

I reached down and pulled him into my arms. Since I adopted him he never called me Dad but when some part of him knew he needed me to do the job of a father he did call me Papa. I held him close and we cried together. It reminded me a lot about the times Sulpicia and I had both been crying like this after each of her miscarriages.

"I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry," he cried on my shoulder.

"That's enough talking Alec. It's alright. It's over. Just remember that I only punish you because I love you like you were my own son," I pulled his jeans back up and he hissed in pain.

"Why? I'm your nephew. You don't need me to be your son. You can just have another if you want. I'm not that important," he was shaking and, as always, trying to reason that he was not my son and therefore I shouldn't care about him as such.

"Alec, there's something I need to tell you and I think you're old enough to hear it," he pulled back and looked at me sensing that it was important for him to listen right now, "When my wife and I were in high school we were in love but we weren't the most responsible couple in the world. She got pregnant by me several times and learned to trust me by the fact that I stayed by her side even then when most boys would have turned their back on the girl they impregnated. Each time she miscarried and the loss hurt very much for both of us. When we did become of age and get married we knew we wanted to have a child but we couldn't seem to get pregnant again. The doctor told us that because of the miscarriages she had when her body was not yet ready to bear a child there was too much damage to her womb. We can not have a child of our own without using a surrogate and we just can't afford it. When I heard about the fire I was so worried. I was glad to hear that you survived. When they told us that we were the only blood relatives you had that could legally adopt you we didn't hesitate this time."

"This time," he tilted his head to the side.

I nodded, "Yes Alec, this time. Since your mother was three years younger than me you and Jane weren't born until after we found out Sulpicia could not get pregnant. Didyme had convinced herself that she had twins to give me a child too. She and Marcus had wanted a daughter from the start and she knew my wife and I had wanted a son. She offered to give you to us but we refused. We knew she only offered because we couldn't have a child of our own and she knew we would do our best to take care of you as our son had we accepted her offer. We wanted you so much but we in the end we couldn't bring ourselves to separate you from Jane. Sulpicia being a twin herself knew how angry she would have been if her parents had separated her from Caius. She couldn't do that to you."

He nodded and hugged me, his tears finally settling down so he could wipe his face dry, "Thank you Papa. For everything."

His voice still sounded very broken and I had to ask, "Alec, at any point when you were screaming did you feel something sort of snap in your throat," he nodded against my shoulder, "Don't talk unless you absolutely have to then. That was your vocal cords and they need time to heal."

He nodded and yawned. I helped him get back to the bed and he laid on his stomach to go back to sleep.

"How is he," my wife asked sadly from the door.

"He'll be sore for a few days but he's fine. How is dinner coming," I replied rubbing his back as he squirmed uncomfortably under the sheets.

"I have some soup boiling on the stove. When I heard him screaming I thought it would be the best choice for his throat," she came over and placed her hands on my shoulders from behind.

"Do you want a moment alone with him? He's just barely awake," I placed my hand over one of hers.

She said yes and I got up and picked my belt up off the floor where I had dropped it and left the room.

**Sulpicia's POV**

I knelt beside the bed and stroked my son's hair. In a way he had grown up with two sets of parents though he did not know it before now. We had loved him like our own ever since Didyme had offered to let us keep him as such. I kissed his forehead. He had been punished enough for this. I would not punish him further.

"Mama," he rasped.

"Shh, go to sleep baby," I rubbed his back and he held still.

"I know I disappointed you…" he tried to speak again.

"Don't talk Alec. I forgive you," I cut him off.

"Please," he looked at me as fresh tears slipped from his eyes, "Will you sing to me like Mom used to?"

I wiped the tears from his cheeks and nodded. He fell asleep as I sang to him one of the many lullabies I had sung during my high school pregnancies to calm my restless children. It would take a while for this family to heal but hopefully we could help Alec understand that he needs to face the pain before it will get any better. He and Aro need each other to get through this now. They both lost a sister in that fire and I lost my best friend.

**Author's Note: Well that's it for the one-shot. If anyone wants me to continue it let me know and I'll post as inspiration comes. It may not be as well written as my other stories since I posted this on a whim and didn't edit it as much as I usually do.**

**Virtual chocolate chip cookie for anyone who finds the hidden connection between my story and the original Twilight saga. Hint the connection is not in the movies or the books but was covered in the guide Stephanie Meyer wrote about the whole world of Twilight.**


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